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WADIA 

GROWTH  THROUGH 
SERVICE 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


rowth  Through  Service 


By 
B.  P.  WADIA 


Growth  Through  Servic 


By 
B.  P.'WADIA 

w- 


THEOSOPHICAL  ASSOCIATION  OF  NEW  YORK 

9  East  41st  Street 

New  York  City 


COPYRIGHT  1922 
BY  THEOSOPHICAL  ASSOCIATION  OF  NEW  YORK. 


ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED. 


B.   P.   WADIA 


THE  INNER  RULER 


PROBLEMS  OF  NATIONAL  AND 
INTERNATIONAL  POLITICS 


SOME  OBSERVATIONS 

ON  THE  STUDY  OF 
THE  SECRET  DOCTRINE 

of  H.  P.  Blavatsky 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 


PREFACE 

We  take  great  pleasure  in  presenting  these  two  lec- 
tures delivered  by  Mr.  B.  P.  Wadia  in  London  on  June 
7th  and  14th,  1921,  under  the  heading:  "Fundamentals 
of  Theosophy:  (1)  Individual  Progress,  and  (2) 
World-Service." 

During  the  last  few  months  Mr.  Wadia  has  been 
'delivering  lectures  in  many  European  countries,  and 
these  two  have  been  selected  on  account  of  their  special 
appeal  to  those  whose  aspiration  is  towards  the  develop- 
ment of  a  spiritual  attitude  in  every  day  life. 


INDIVIDUAL  PROGRESS 

One  of  the  main  purposes  for  which  the  Theosophical 
Society  was  founded  was  to  afford  its  members,  and 
those  who  came  under  its  influence,  a  chance  and  an 
opportunity  to  lead  the  spiritual  life.  This  has  not  been 
one  of  our  declared  Objects ;  but  there  is  little  doubt  in 
the  mind  of  any  that  the  conscious  treading  of  the  Path 
of  Evolution  with  the  help  of  a  deliberate  and  scientific 
programme  was  one  of  the  main  objectives  which  the 
Great  Founders  of  the  Society  had  in  mind  when  They 
began  Their  work  with  the  help  of  Their  agent  Madame 
Blavatsky  and  her  physical-plane  co-workers. 

To  present-day  members  this  might  sound  somewhat 
strange.  Why  should  we  opine  that  the  Theosophical 
Society  has  an  undeclared  Object  which  aims  at  help- 
ing its  members  to  realise  certain  great  truths  with  a 
view  to  enable  them  to  tread  the  path  of  spiritual  prog- 
ress deliberately  and  consciously?  And  yet,  when  we 
begin  to  examine  the  teachings  as  Madame  Blavatsky 
gave  them,  we  come  across  that  view  put  forward  by 
her  in  more  than  one  place.  Thus,  in  a  very  instructive 
short  article  which  appeared  in  THE  THEOSOPHIST, 
H.  P.  B.  said: 

"The  Theosophical  Society  dees  indeed  desire  to  pro- 
mote the  spiritual  growth  of  every  individual  who  comes 
within  its  influence,  but  its  methods  are  those  of  the 
ancient  Rishis,  its  tenets  those  of  the  oldest  Esotericism; 
it  is  no  dispenser  of  patent  nostrums,  composed  of  vio- 
lent remedies  which  no  honest  healer  would  dare  to 


use.*" 

Here  we  get  a  corroboration  of  the  fact  I  am  putting 
forward;  but  besides  that,  the  general  method  to  be 

*Adyar    Pamphlet    No.   71,   Spiritual   Progress,   by    H.    P. 
Blavatsky. 

5 


followed  by  our  members  is  indicated.  It  is  a  very  in- 
teresting statement ;  nowadays  we  are  tending  more  and 
more  to  the  idea  that  we  of  the  Theosophical  Society 
are  here  to  do  some  particular  form  of  physical-world 
work.  While  it  is  true  that  the  Society  exists  to  do 
active  work  for  the  benefit  of  the  world,  which  is  the 
subject  of  my  second  lecture,  to-day  I  want  to  put  for- 
ward the  idea  that  that  service  is  not  possible  unless 
our  members  fit  themselves  for  it ;  for  our  service  must 
show  itself  in  activity  which  is  of  a  special  nature  and 
character.  It  is  a  good  and  sound  doctrine  that  we 
should  try  to  live  a  life  of  self-sacrifice  and  service; 
but  it  implies  that  the  members  of  the  Society  have 
selves  to  sacrifice,  have  something  to  offer  at  the  altar 
of  Service. 

Further,  the  work  which  the  T.  S.  has  to  do  is 
spiritual.  We  were  not  created  as  a  social  service  body, 
as  a  political  reform  league,  as  a  Church  to  make  men 
believe;  neither  as  "a  school  of  psychology"  or  as  "a 
miracle  club"  or  as  "a  college  for  the  special  study  of 
Occultism."  The  work  of  the  T.  S.,  in  the  words  of 
the  Master  K.  H.,  is  "to  guide  the  recurrent  impulse 
which  must  soon  come  and  which  will  push  the  age 
towards  extreme  atheism,  or  drag  it  back  to  extreme 
sacerdotalism,  if  it  is  not  led  to  the  primitive,  soul- 
satisfying  philosophy  of  the  Aryans.  ...  Its  chief 
aim  is  to  extirpate  current  superstitions  and  skepticism, 
and  from  long-sealed  ancient  fountains  to  draw  the 
proof  that  man  may  shape  his  own  future  destiny,  and 
know  for  a  certainty  that  he  can  live  hereafter,  etc."* 

This  implies  the  understanding  of  some  new  laws  of 
life  and  being.  Therefore  it  is  but  meet  that  we  should 

*  The  Occult  World,  by  A.  P.  Sinnett. 

6 


consider  what  it  is  that  the  Society  offers  to  its  mem- 
bers in  the  way  of  a  programme  for  the  spiritual  life. 
Has  it  any  definite  plan  to  offer,  any  cut-and-dried 
scheme  which  its  members  can  use  to  get  results? 

When  we  carefully  study  the  message  of  H.  P.  B., 
we  find  that  she  does  not  even  make  an  attempt  to  give 
a  cut-and-dried  scheme;  in  this  passage  and  elsewhere 
she  speaks  about  spiritual  progress,  and  says  that  the 
kind  of  spiritual  effort  which  members  should  make 
must  conform  to  the  oldest  teachings  of  the  genuine 
esoteric  doctrine  of  the  Ancients.  And  yet  our  liter- 
ature does  offer  schemes  and  programmes.  In  recent 
times  we  have  begun  to  dogmatise :  we  know  in  detail 
the  fetters  to  be  broken  and  the  virtues  to  be  worn  for 
every  stage  of  the  Path,  which  is  mapped  out  in  divi- 
sions and  compartments!  That  being  so,  naturally  we 
ask  what  are  the  varied  possibilities  of  these  pro- 
grammes given  to  us,  first  for  study  and  then  for  prac- 
tice? Let  us  examine  them. 

First,  we  get  such  teachings  as  come  to  us  from 
H.  P.  B.  herself :  in  this  little  article  to  which  I  made 
reference ;  in  several  other  articles  in  the  early  volumes 
of  THE  THEOSOPHIST,  in  Lucifer  and  in  The  Path, 
edited  in  America  by  W.  Q.  Judge;  in  the  oral  teach- 
ings, later  on  published  in  the  Third  Volume  of  The 
Secret  Doctrine;  then  in  her  priceless  work,  written 
down  by  her  under  the  title  of  The  Voice  of  the  Silence, 
we  get  three  schemes;  in  Practical  Occultism  we  get 
another  programme. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  Society,  Mabel  Collins  pre- 
sented that  little  gem  Light  on  the  Path.  W.  Q.  Judge, 
in  his  Culture  of  Concentration  and  in  other  places,  has 
given  some  fine  and  inspiring  teachings.  His  transla- 
tions and  interpretations  of  the  Gita  and  Patanjali's 


Yoga  Siitras  take  us  to  the  second  class  of  programmes, 
•viz.,  interpretations  based  on  ancient  Hindu  or  Buddhist 
schemes.  We  have  had  several  of  these.  There  are 
many  and  sundry  who  have  written  on  the  four  jewels 
of  the  Brahmanical  and  Buddhistic  books,  including 
Mrs.  Besant,  whose  lucid  exposition  in  the  Path  of 
Discipleship  is  one  of  the  very  best  of  its  kind.  We 
must  not  forget  her  contribution  to  the  literature  of 
the  Inner  Path  through  the  little  book  The  Doctrine 
of  the  Heart:  her  foreword  and  extracts  from  letters 
from  "Indian  friends"  contained  therein  have  an  ex- 
quisite fragrance  all  their  own. 

Thus,  through  the  years  of  our  existence  as  a  so- 
ciety, we  have  been  accumulating  (1)  a  number  of 
schemes,  and  (2)  a  number  of  interpretations;  both 
dealing  with  rules  of  conduct,  of  meditation,  of  prac- 
tice for  the  training  of  bodies,  the  culture  of  mind  and 
emotions,  the  unfolding  of  the  Man  within. 

When  we  put  all  these  teachings  together,  we  get  a 
number  of  definite  programmes,  and  the  question  arises 
— which,  after  all,  is  the  precise  scheme  which  one  must 
follow  to  tread  this  mysterious  path  of  progress,  of 
self-conscious  evolution?  The  Path  has  been  spoken  of 
by  different  people  in  different  ways,  and  it  has  been 
given  different  names.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the 
student  these  few  programmes  are  expositions  of  and 
about  the  "Heart-Doctrine" ;  and  their  esoteric  nature 
consists  in  the  fact  that  a  certain  amount  of  spiritual 
perception  is  essential  to  grasp  the  inwardness  of  the 
truths  they  contain.  Take  the  Brahmanical  or  Budd- 
histic Fourfold  Way;  or  the  three  schemes  of  The 
Voice  of  the  Silence;  or  the  programme  of  Light  on 
the  Path;  or  the  rules  of  Practical  Occultism;  or  the 
atmosphere  of  The  Doctrine  of  the  Heart;  or  the  laws 

8 


of  the  Ufiasanas  quoted  by  H.  P.  B.;  these  and  others 
of  like  nature  are  sincere  attempts  of  occultists  to  ex- 
plain how  they  sought  and  found  the  Way,  how  they 
became  the  Path.  These  are,  so  to  speak,  so  many  links 
between  the  esoteric  and  exoteric :  they  are  not  esoteric, 
inasmuch  as  they  are  public  property ;  they  are  not  exo- 
teric, for  they  require  some  familiarity  and  touch  with 
the  reality  of  Esotericism.  There  are  no  esoteric  books 
in  the  public  world ;  the  teachings  that  come  from  within 
one's  own  unfolding  consciousness  can  remain  esoteric. 
All  such  books  as  I  have  named  are  indicative  of  the 
Truth  which  is  the  Path.  The  Message  never  is  de- 
livered, for  it  is  spiritual  in  nature,  and  therefore  al- 
ways mysterious.  The  moment  you  begin  to  capture 
it,  it  eludes  your  grasp ;  the  moment  you  begin  to  speak 
it,  your  language  fails  you.  Thus  it  carries  within  itself 
the  power  of  its  own  secrecy.  Just  as  two  individuals 
knowing  a  language  can  talk  to  each  other,  so  also  only 
those  who  have  sought  and  found  can  know  each  other 
and  hold  intercourse.  Thus  must  the  secrets  of  the  Real 
Mystery  of  Real  Initiations  be  guarded.  The  power  to 
guard  the  knowledge  goes  with  the  obtaining  of  the  key 
of  knowledge. 

When  we  study  carefully  such  writings,  from  most 
ancient  times  to  modern  ones — like  the  Brahmanical 
Stitras,  the  philosophic  propositions  laid  down  by  the 
Buddha  in  his  "Heart  Doctrine,"  the  teachings  of  the 
great  Chinese  sages  or  early  Sufis,  or  the  profound 
wisdom  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Egyptians,  or  what 
H.  P.  B.  has  put  forward — we  find  that  these  are  efforts 
made  at  explaining  what  the  Path  meant  and  what  its 
treading  involved  for  some  daring  souls  who  solved  in 
the  inner  sanctuary  of  the  heart  the  Mystery  which 
cannot  be  revealed  but  can  only  be  mysteriously  indi- 


cated.  But  something  very  definite  evolves  out  of  the 
study  of  these  Scriptures,  viz.,  that  there  are  common 
fundamental  factors  which  are  the  rules  and  the  laws 
of  the  foundations  on  which  these  edifices  have  been 
raised;  the  existence  of  the  underlying  basis  is  per- 
ceived. The  practical  student  of  the  esoteric  science, 
therefore,  goes  in  search  of  these  laws  for  the  building 
of  foundations.  He  seeks  for  the  currents  of  life  which 
produce  form,  and  the  vitality  which  brings  the  organ- 
ism into  being.  It  is  with  such  fundamentals  that  I 
want  to  deal  in  this  lecture,  and  then,  next  week,  I 
shall  proceed  to  show  how  the  Theosophical  service  of 
the  world,  to  be  undertaken  by  the  members  of  the 
Society,  should  be  in  terms  of  this  particular  kind  of 
inner  realisation  of  the  fundamentals  of  the  spiritual 
life. 

Now  what  are  these  fundamentals?  An  hour's  lec- 
ture can  but  deal  with  one,  and  that  one  only  partially. 
Therefore  I  shall  deal  with  the  root-fundamental ;  others 
evolve  out  of  it.  This  is  the  seed,  others  are  branches 
and  leaves  and  flowers.  It  is  that  man  should  know 
himself,  that  each  one  should  find  his  own  self. 

Every  one  has  read — "Man  know  thyself" ;  but  most 
people  have  read  so  much  about  it  that  they  have  a  fair 
knowledge  of  how  to  know,  what  to  do,  what  not  to  do 
— all  about  it,  but  not  it!  We  have  mistaken  the  de- 
scriptions for  the  experience;  we  have  analysed  and 
dissected  the  form  and  the  coverings  of  the  Sutra,  the 
Truth,  so  much  that  its  life  has  departed !  The  seed 
(bij)  of  the  Sutra  is  important  primarily.  Thus,  taking 
for  granted  that  we  have  understood  this  very  simple 
proposition,  we  have  proceeded  to  the  ramifications  of 
that  proposition,  to  the  many  forms  of  interpretation 
which  others  have  built  around  that  life,  and  thus  we 

10 


have  missed  tl.e  point.  Instead  of  taking  the  simple, 
straight  road  as  it  lies  before  us,  by  applying  this  funda- 
mental in  terms  of  life,  we  turn  in  one  direction  or 
another,  to  one  kind  of  practice  or  another,  to  one  form 
of  study  or  another,  and  adopt  that  peculiar  course 
which  takes  us  round  and  round  the  groove,  and — we 
make  progress.  Yes,  progress  which  Kingsley  has  very 
beautifully  described  in  his  Water  Babies,  and  which 
may  be  called  "flapdoodle  progress."  Progress  in  terms 
of  life,  in  terms  of  knowing  ourselves  first,  has  little 
to  do  with  books  and  a  great  deal  to  do  with  realisation. 
All  that  the  great,  genuine  books  of  the  occult  order  can 
do  is  to  give  us  the  interpretation  of  individuals  who 
have  made  the  search  and  have  attained ;  but  what  good 
is  that  to  us  unless  we  make  the  search  in  our  own  way, 
and  check  the  results  of  our  seeking  with  their  results? 
And  this  is  the  great  trouble  we  are  always  up  against, 
not  only  in  our  own  Theosophical  Society,  but  in  Theo- 
sophical  Societies  of  every  age.  It  is  the  going  away 
from  this  fundamentally  simple  spiritual  principle  that 
ultimately  brings  about  the  disintegration  of  real  spir- 
itual movements,  for  people  turn  the  spiritual  life  into 
the  religious  one.  These  two  are  very  different.  The 
religious  life  is  something  as  different  from  the 
spiritual  life,  as  the  intellectual  life  of  the  scholar  is 
different  from  the  spiritual.  Therefore  we  want  to 
understand  this  principle  of  knowing  ourselves.  Can 
we  know  the  laws  underlying  this  principle?  Is  there 
any  general  interpretation  of  use  to  all?  Is  there  any 
clue  whereby  we  can  undertake,  each  one  for  himself, 
this  profound  search  of  the  primary  fundamental,  so 
that  we  know  what  we  are? 

As  we  study  H.  P.  B.  we  find  that  it  is  possible;  for 
she  deals  in  a  very  liinng  manner  with  spiritual  and 

11 


mysterious  truths.  She  indicated  the  existence  and 
hints  at  the  use  of  certain  keys,  which  we  can  apply  to 
our  own  lives  and  get  the  solution  of  the  mystery  which 
surrounds  us.  In  a  sense  she  has  solved  the  mystery 
for  us ;  but  also  she  has  not,  because,  while  she  has  pro- 
vided the  key,  she  demands  that  we  must  use  it. 

As  a  student  of  H.  P.  B.  I  have  tried  to  understand 
this  fundamental.  In  what  I  am  going  to  say,  I  am 
giving  you  my  interpretation,  as  useful  or  as  futile  to 
you  as  any  other  interpretation;  for,  after  all,  what 
comes  in  the  shape  of  knowledge  (not  where  it  comes 
from)  is  useful  to  each  one  of  us  in  proportion  as  we 
are  able  to  utilise  it ;  it  is  vital  in  proportion  as  we  are 
able  to  understand  it.  It  becomes  the  duty  of  succeed- 
ing generations  of  the  students  of  the  Sacred  Science 
to  record  their  interpretations  of  the  inner  truths,  which 
they  have  been  able  to  gain  with  the  help  of  advanced 
occultists  or  teachers.  I  am  giving  you,  who  are 
students,  my  own  interpretation  as  a  student.  You  must 
examine  impartially,  accept  or  reject  it  after  intellec- 
tual study,  on  its  inherent  merit.  I  am  claiming  no 
authority;  for  there  is  no  such  thing  as  authority  in 
spiritual  teachings,  save  the  inherent  authority  that  the 
teaching  itself  carries.  If  what  is  inherent  in  H.  P.  B. 
is  authoritative  to  me,  it  is  because  I  am  able  to  respond. 
If  I  am  not  able  to  respond  to  the  inherent  power  of 
any  particular  teaching,  there  is  no  other  course  for 
me  than  to  put  it  away.  In  that  sense  examine  what  I 
have  to  offer  as  an  interpretation  of  the  primary  funda- 
mental of  the  inner  life  that  man  must  know  himself, 
that  is,  he  must  know  the  laws  of  his  own  being. 

When  we  begin  to  analyse,  we  find  that  most  of  us 
are  in  the  real  sense  of  the  expression  "non-entities," 
not  non-entities  in  the  ordinary  sense  in  which  perhaps 

12 


the  world  uses  that  word,  more  or  less  contemptuously, 
but  non-entities  in  the  sense  that  we  are  no  entity.  This 
might  sound  to  you  who  are  students  of  Theosophy 
somewhat  strange,  that  we  who  talk  of  monads  and 
egos,  and  higher  and  lower  selves,  are  no  entities.  But 
it  is  true ;  when  we  begin  to  analyse,  we  find  that  most 
of  us  are  non-entities;  that  we  do  not  find  ourselves. 
Because  there  is  no  Self  or  Entity  to  find !  Unless  the 
kingdom  of  the  Self  is  taken  by  violence,  and  he  is 
compelled  to  reveal  himself,  we  shall  find  that  we  are, 
each  one  of  us,  a  bundle  of  non-entities,  a  fact  that 
we  ought  to  note  carefully  if  we  want  to  progress. 

Something  else  we  find :  by  the  help  of  all  the  varied 
processes  of  life,  as  individual  beings,  we  are  passing, 
or  are  endeavouring  to  pass,  from  a  state  of  non-entity 
to  a  state  of  entity.  Every  one  is  making  an  effort  to 
realise  it.  We  find  that  we  have  nothing  tangible  on 
which  we  can  put  our  finger  and  say  "this  is  I" ;  but  wa 
are  continuously  finding  that  behind  or  beyond  the  bun- 
dle of  non-entities  there  is  somewhere  an  "I."  We 
begin  to  analyse  this  "I"  which  instinctively  to  us  is 
the  law  of  our  being.  When  we  become  deliberate  in 
our  search  and  analysis,  when  we  become  intellectually 
honest  with  ourselves,  when  we  begin  to  think  for  our- 
selves and  put  a  stop  to  thinking  by  proxy,  which  has 
been  going  on  all  the  time,  and  when  we  think  earnestly 
and  sincerely,  our  search  yields  a  result.  What  do  we 
find? 

We  find  that  there  are  three  beings  in  us,  each  yet  to 
be  sought  and  found;  each  yet  to  be  looked  for  and 
recognised.  Unless  an  analysis  of  our  complex  nature 
is  undertaken  and  the  law  of  beings  in  us  found,  spir- 
itual progress  is  not  possible.  The  laws  which  govern 
the  life  of  Being  can  be  understood  only  when  the  law 

13 


of  beings  in  us  is  grasped.  The  entity  reveals  himself 
when  the  non-entities  are  seen  and  overcome. 

First,  then,  we  find  that  there  are  ghosts  of  dead 
selves  in  us;  and  that  we  continuously  identify  our- 
selves with  them;  the  ghosts  of  the  selves  which  we 
were,  but  which  we  no  more  are.  Thus  in  a  very  real 
sense  we  live  in  a  ghost  world.  People  are  very  anxious 
in  the  Theosophical  Society  to  know  what  the  astral 
plane  is  like;  but  there  is  a  very  real  kind  of  astral 
plane  which  must  first  be  investigated.  The  astral  world 
plane  which  must  be  investigated.  The  astral  world 
of  our  solar  system  can  be  found;  but  to  investigate 
into  the  nature  of  this  ghost  world  in  which  we  are  liv- 
ing, the  world  which  is  peopled  by  many  ghosts  of  our 
own  dead  selves,  that  is  a  very  important  thing  for  us. 
Each  one  identifies  himself  with  his  dead  selves  of  long 
ago,  and  the  real  Self  cannot  make  himself  manifest 
when  this  identification  continues. 

And  these  ghosts,  where  do  they  live?  In  the  grave- 
yard of  the  body.  "What  art  thou  ? — A  little  soul  carry- 
ing a  corpse,"  said  the  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius.  That 
is  why  our  physical  bodies  live  by  rules  and  laws  which 
are  dictated  to  them  from  without.  Our  bodies  are 
dead,  and  kept  alive  by  artificial,  mechanical  processes. 
Civilisations  have  been  killing  them,  and  the  task  is  nor 
yet  accomplished ;  our  modern  doctors  with  their  serums 
and  vaccines  are  achieving  it  as  fast  as  they  can ! 

First,  then,  we  find  dead  selves — ghosts  in  grave- 
yards. 

Next,  we  find  that  there  is  a  living  self  in  us,  one 
which  we  can  catch  hold  of.  But  there  is  this  pecu- 
liarity about  it — it  is  dying.  This  is  very  disconcerting 
when  for  the  first  time  we  experience  the  phenomenon. 
This  living  self  which  is  dying  is  a  very  fascinating 

14 


entity ;  it  is  a  reality  and  an  illusion ;  it  reveals  itself  as 
an  entity,  and,  before  we  realise  it  as  such,  it  is  a  ghost ; 
it  is  elusive  for  it  is  becoming,  and  by  the  time  it  has 
become  it  is  dead ;  it  is  an  entity  and  yet  not  one  entity ; 
it  is  always  changing,  never  stable,  and  yet  is  stable — 
from  childhood  to  maturity  and  old  age,  from  birth 
through  life  to  death.  It  unites  all  our  experiences,  con- 
nects all  our  actions,  is  the  basis  of  all  we  call  life,  and 
even  is  there  in  what  we  call  dreams.  It  is  there  and  yet. 
not  there. 

And  this  too  belongs  to  our  body ;  but,  when  this  self  I 
is  active,  the  body  is  no  more  a  tomb,  but,  by  turns, 
obeys  its  mood  and  becomes  a  garden  of  pleasure,  a 
desert  of  loneliness,  a  prison-house  of  pain  and  suffer- 
ing. Through  all  three  we  contact  the  present — the 
illusion  of  Time.  "Even  this  shall  pass  away"  is  the 
perpetual  slogan  this  self  habitually  uses. 

That,  then,  is  the  next  constituent  in  our  make-up,  of 
which  we  should  take  note  before  we  can  advance 
further. 

Then  we  go  a  little  deeper.  Our  inspirations  and 
our  aspirations,  our  yearning  and  our  quest,  in  the 
midst  of  death  as  also  of  change,  enable  us,  if  we  will, 
to  come  upon  the  third  Self  in  us,  a  Being  in  hiding. 
This  is  the  Sleeping  Self,  and  the  pursuit  of  its  exist- 
ence reveals  the  fact  that  it  is  beginning  to  wake.  It 
is  willing  to  be  coaxed  into  a  condition  of  awakening. 

This  also  belongs  to  our  body ;  but,  when  this  sleep- 
ing-waking Self  works  in  it,  it  is  like  the  Night — silent 
and  dark  and  mysterious — but  the  star-chimes  are  heard. 
It  keeps  vigil  to  catch  the  whispering  Voice  of  the  Great 
Sleeper. 

We  find  that  there  is  nothing  more  in  us  than  these 
three  Beings :  the  ghosts  of  our  dead  selves ;  the  living 

15 


self  that  is  dying;  and  the  sleeping  self  that  is  trying 
to  awake.  This  is  the  condition  of  most  of  us  who 
belong  to  what  is  called  the  civilised  human  race. 

We  are  living  in  three  worlds.  Recognise  in  you 
these  three  factors  of  consciousness  which  you  call  "I" 
and  which  build  three  worlds  to  live  in.  You  live  in 
three  worlds.  "Yes,"  you  say,  "but  we  know  them — 
physical,  astral  and  mental."  No,  we  do  not  live  in 
those  worlds ;  we  do  not  even  live  in  one  of  them  fully. 
With  the  help  of  the  five  senses  we  contact  only  a  por- 
tion of  the  physical  world.  We  contact  a  meagre  por- 
tion of  the  astral  world  with  the  help  of  our  immature 
and  uncultured  emotions.  How  much  do  we  contact 
of  that  mind-world  which  lies  beyond  the  astral? 

But  we  do  contact  in  a  very  real  sense  three  other 
worlds.  There  is,  first,  the  world  in  which  these  dead 
selves  of  ours  exist,  the  ghost  world,  the  world  of  the 
past  in  time.  All  that  has  to  do  with  our  own  dead 
selves  has  to  do  with  the  past,  and  there  is  little  that 
is  tangible  in  it ;  it  may  be  called  the  world  of  the  past. 
Secondly,  we  live  in  the  world  of  the  present,  a  very 
interesting  world,  full  of  illusions,  but  peopled  by  what 
to  us  is  the  only  reality,  because  we  can  contact  it — 
the  self  which  is  dying.  Then  the  third,  the  world  of 
the  future,  a  devachanic  condition.  It  is  the  world  of 
the  Sleeper  who  is  yet  to  awake.  He  lives  in  the  Heaven 
of  his  own  making. 

Individual  progress  means  that  by  some  process  that 
future  world  should  be  transformed  into  the  present 

*  Compare  the  statement  in  the  Voice  of  the  Silence; 
"Before  thou  takest  thy  first  step,  learn  to  discern  the  real 
from  the  false,  the  ever-fleeting  from  the  everlasting.  Learn 
above  all  to  separate  head-learning  from  Soul-wisdom,  the 
"eye"  from  the  "heart"  doctrine.  Yea,  ignorance  is  like  unto 
a  closed  and  airless  vessel ;  the  Soul  a  bird  shut  up  within. 
It  warbles  not,  nor  can  it  stir  a  feather ;  but  the  songster  mute 
and  torpid  sits,  and  of  exhaustion  dies." 

16 


world.  Spiritual  progress  means  the  transmutation  of 
the  future  into  the  present — but,  herein  lies  the  mystery, 
that  new  present  must  be  of  a  nature  that  cannot  pass 
into  the  past.*  When  the  Sleeping  Self  becomes  awake, 
it  must  be  endowed  with  the  Virtue  of  Immortality — 
the  self  must  become  the  Self,  the  present  must  become 
the  Living  Present,  the  body  must  neither  be  the  garden 
of  pleasure,  the  desert  of  loneliness,  nor  the  prison- 
house  of  pain  but  the  Temple  of  the  Living  God.  The 
sleeping  star  must  not  sing  to  the  stillness  of  the  Night, 
but  its  silver  points,  holding  the  angelic  radiance  of  its 
Being,  must  incarnate  into  the  Temple  of  the  body. 
The  illusion  of  time  must  vanish,  and  the  Reality  of  the 
Eternal  Now  be  precipitated.  Therefore  the  Sleep- 
ing Self,  in  the  process  of  descending  into  the  graveyard 
must  come  enriched  with  the  mysterious  Power  of 
Youth.  He  must  not  come,  like  his  many  predecessors, 
a  mortal,  but  an  Immortal  Lord.  That  Sleeping  Self 
generally  awakes  looking  behind  to  the  Past,  and  is 
the  Epimetheus;  he  must  awake  with  his  Fiery  Eye 
turned  to  the  Eternal,  a  true  Prometheus. 

To  build  the  Bridge  between  the  Heavenly  Home  of 
the  Immortal  Lord  and  the  graveyard  transformed  into 
the  Temple,  is  the  work  of  the  Spiritual  aspirant.  The 
Path  is  the  Path  of  Balance,  the  Path  of  Equipoise,  the 
Middle  Path — named  in  a  dozen  ways  and  misunder- 
stood in  a  hundred. 

That,  then,  is  the  conclusion  we  come  to.  We  have 
three  beings  in  us ;  we  live  in  three  worlds ;  and  there 
is  a  definite  thing  to  be  done  if  individual  progress  is 
to  be  made.  When  we  identify  ourselves  with  our 
ghosts,  we  live  in  the  world  of  the  past,  and  this  we 
continuously  do.  We  do  not  live  even  in  the  world  of 

17 


the  present;  when  we  make  plans  for  the  hereafter  or 
the  morrow,  we  do  it  continuously  in  terms  of  the  past. 
We  plan  in  terms  of  that  which  is  dead  or  that  which 
is  dying.  But  it  is  the  eternal  aspect  of  the  present 
which  makes  that  present  the  Great  Reality,  and  the 
world  of  the  present  the  world  of  Truth. 

This,  then,  is  the  first  great  fundamental  principle  of 
the  spiritual  life.  How  far  have  we  strayed  away  when 
we  talk  of  going  on  to  the  astral  plane,  becoming  in- 
visible helpers,  making  progress  by  treading  the  "path 
of  discipleship"  and  getting  "Initiations",  and  so  on  and 
so  forth!  Did  not  H.  P.  B.  affirm  that  the  Initiator  of 
the  Initiates  is  within  us?  How  have  some  found  the 
Self?  By  self-effort,  by  self -practice.  And  it  is  the 
individual  effort  which  brings  forth  help.  From  which 
source?  From  the  Source  from  which  all  inspiration 
comes,  the  World  of  the  Masters. 

The  spiritual  world  is  not  somewhere  far  away,  but 
within  us.  When  the  three  worlds  of  the  past,  the 
present  and  the  future  merge  into  the  World  of  the 
Eternal  Now;  when  the  dead  selves  are  resurrected, 
when  the  dying  self  is  made  to  live,  when  the  sleeping 
self  becomes  endowed  with  immortality  in  the  process 
of  awakening ;  then  the  graveyard  becomes  the  Temple, 
and  Man,  as  an  incarnated  entity,  lives  in  this  great 
World  of  Reality. 

Therefore,  to  make  entity  out  of  non-entity  is  the 
process.  Recognize  the  fact  that  there  is  an  Entity 
standing  somewhere  on  the  threshold.  We  have  read 
of  "dwellers  on  the  threshold,"  and  we  attire  them  in 
unattractive  and  even  gruesome  garbs;  but  there  is  a 
Dweller  on  the  Threshold  of  the  Heavenly  World  for 
each  one  of  us — a  Radiant  Being  of  Power  which  is 
Peace  and  of  Wisdom  which  is  Love. 

18 


This  world  of  Maha-Maya — Great  Illusion — where 
past  and  present  and  future  abide;  this  enemy  of  the 
Self — dead,  dying,  asleep,  each  engaged  in  the  struggle 
for  existence,  bound  by  the  laws  of  division  of  Mara's 
creation — these  two  are  one.  We  are  dead,  and  there- 
fore everything  only  seems;  let  us  live,  and  the  world 
will  be  the  World  of  Reality.  God  is  not  in  our  heaven 
and  all  is  not  right  with  us  when  the  eternal  change 
fashions  eternal  pain.  God  will  be  on  earth,  and  all  will 
be  right  with  our  world,  when  we  live  by  the  Power  of 
the  Eternal  Watcher  within  us. 

Seek  for  the  Self — the  Entity,  the  Inner  Ruler,  the 
Immortal  God  within  you,  which  is  you.  The  Masters 
teach  him,  on  him  their  blessings  rest,  into  him  Their 
inspiration  is  poured.  Seek  for  Them  in  the  World  of 
the  Ego,  in  the  sphere  of  the  Self.  Advises  The  Voice 
of  the  Silence  "Seek  not  for  thy  Guru  in  those  mayavic 
regions" — the  worlds  of  the  past,  the  present  and  the 
future.  Follow  the  one  true  Path  of  Search  for  your 
own  Self,  all  other  Paths  are  false.  Know,  and  do  not 
only  believe ;  stand  up,  and  do  not  lean  on  others ;  seek 
for  the  Bread  of  Life  and  do  not  ask  to  be  fed. 

H.  P.  B.'s  words  come  to  mind :  "Through  joy  and 
sorrow,  pain  and  pleasure,  the  soul  comes  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  itself  ;  then  begins  the  task  of  learning  the  laws 
of  life,  that  the  discords  may  be  resolved,  and  the  har- 
mony be  restored." 

Kindle  the  Fire  of  the  Self  in  the  Temple  of  the 
Heart,  and  worship  it  in  the  Silence  of  Reality. 


19 


WORLD-SERVICE 

You  will  remember  that  in  the  first  lecture  of  this 
series  on  "The  Fundamentals  of  Theosophy,"  I  spoke  on 
"Individual  Progress,"  and  pointed  out  that  in  aiming 
at  that  progress,  our  objective  should  be  the  same  as 
that  of  the  great  Masters,  vis.,  service  of  the  world. 
That  aim  is  the  foundation  of  all  teachings  which  oc- 
cultists have  given  from  time  immemorial.  Therefore, 
in  considering  the  fundamentals  of  Theosophy  for  the 
service  of  the  world,  we  want  to  obtain  the  particular 
viewpoint  of  those  Great  Servants  of  Humanity,  the 
Masters  of  the  Wisdom. 

Many  kinds  of  activity,  many  forms  of  service,  are 
rendered  by  many  types  of  people  in  the  world  of  to- 
day. Our  task  in  the  T.  S.  is  to  render  a  peculiar  kind 
of  service,  to  give  a  particular  type  of  assistance  to  the 
world.  As  H.  P.  B.  said,  "We  believe  in  relieving  the 
starvation  of  the  Soul,  as  much,  if  not  more,  than  the 
emptiness  of  the  stomach."  Our  aim  for  the  individual 
members  of  the  Society  is,  or  should  be,  to  enable  them 
to  make  an  all-round  spiritual  progress,  so  that  our  task 
of  rendering  that  specific  service  may  be  achieved.  Our 
aim  should  not  be  to  help  the  world  in  spheres  where 
our  members  are  not  competent  to  hold  their  own  as 
helpers  and  assistants.  If  we  undertake  a  task  which 
is  not  our  own,  we  fall  into  the  double  error  of  trying 
to  do  something  which  is  not  our  work,  while  that  which 
is  our  work  remains  undone.  Our  members  should  find 
their  own  sphere  of  spiritual  service. 

The  reason  for  this  basic  idea,  that  the  T.  S.  should 
serve  the  world  spiritually  and  not  in  other  ways,  is  to 
be  found  in  the  root-idea  to  which  H.  P.  B.  gives  ex- 

20 


pression :  "There  can  be  no  real  enfranchisement  of 
human  thought,  nor  expansion  of  scientific  discovery, 
until  the  existence  of  Spirit  is  recognized,  and  the  dou- 
ble evolution  accepted  as  a  fact." 

What,  then,  are  the  fundamental  principles  which 
should  guide  us  in  the  selection  of  our  work  as  mem- 
bers of  the  T.  S.?  It  has  been  well  said  that  to  feed 
the  hungry  people,  to  clothe  the  naked  ones  of  the  earth, 
is  a  very  noble  work,  but  that  is  not  necessarily  the  work 
of  the  T.  S. ;  and  I  think  that  is  true.  Our  work  is  to 
give  that  which  the  Masters  gave  to  the  Society  for  the 
purpose  of  helping  the  world.  What  was  that?  The 
spiritual  knowledge,  the  Wisdom-Religion,  which  gives 
a  basis  for  the  true  life  of  the  Spirit,  which  gives  us 
material  for  building  the  foundation  of  the  true  type 
of  altruism.  Thus  each  individual  can  serve  in  terms 
of  his  or  her  own  spiritual  life.  For  the  T.  S.  as  an 
organization  there  never  can  be  a  definite  programme  of 
outer  activity  which  all  members  can  adopt. 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  there  is  no  definite  "pro- 
gramme," no  connected  scheme  of  Theosophical  activity 
for  the  service  of  the  world.  How  would  you  draw  up 
a  Theosophical  political  programme,  and  define  the  duty 
of  the  members  of  the  T.  S.  in  the  province  of  politics? 
We  have  in  our  ranks  Conservatives,  Progressives  and 
Socialists.  What  common  programme  of  work  can  they 
all  adopt  ?  The  only  way  is  to  leave  our  members  free, 
so  that  each  may  be  able  to  spiritualize  his  own  politics. 
The  day  that  we  produce  a  complete  scheme  of  activity, 
the  day  that  we  have  a  precise  programme  of  service  of 
the  world,  we  shall  not  be  a  spiritual  body,  but  one 
more  sect  fighting  other  sects,  one  more  body  fighting 
other  bodies ;  the  spiritual  nature  of  the  Society  would 
lose  itself  in  the  struggle  of  creeds  and  parties. 

21 


Therefore,  in  reference  to  the  active  service  of  the 
world,  true  to  its  traditions,  the  T.  S.  must  not  adopt 
any  particular  programme ;  it  should  leave  its  members 
free  to  define  their  own  actional  creed  and  to  serve  the 
world  according  to  what  they  deem  to  be  right.  Thus 
we  act  up  to  the  primary  fundamental  of  all  occult  so- 
cieties and  bodies;  we  place  an  instrument  in  the  hand 
of  every  individual  member  to  determine  for  himself 
what  for  him  is  the  province  of  spiritual  service  in 
politics  or  in  anything  else.  To  grasp  the  real  signifi- 
cance of  this  proposition,  a  definition  of  what  is  called 
spiritual  life  is  required. 

Now,  we  have  very  curious  notions  and  ideas  about 
the  spiritual  life.  We  rightly  hold  that  spiritual  life 
means  something  very  precise  and  definite ;  but  we  make 
it  nebulous  where  precision  is  required,  and  become 
harshly  exacting  when  not  necessary.  There  is  a  good 
deal  of  confusion  in  the  minds  of  our  members  in  ref- 
erence to  spiritual  life  and  spiritual  work. 

Spiritual  life  is  the  gaining  of  an  attiude,  as  I  wa? 
pointing  out  in  the  first  lecture.  Each  individual,  by 
his  own  self-effort,  gains  an  inner  attitude;  and,  be- 
cause he  has  evolved  up  to  a  certain  point,  he  expresses 
something  which  is  definitely  his  own,  which  profound- 
ly represents  his  contribution  to  the  spiritual  service  of 
his  fellows.  Spirituality  should  be  understood  as  that 
particular  attitude  to  life  which  enables  a  man  deliber- 
ately to  conceive  the  next  step  he  has  to  take  and  to  act 
self-consciously  in  reference  to  the  world  in  terms  of 
that  step.  You  will  see  from  this,  that  if  a  man  thinks 
that  it  is  his  business  to  provide  food  to  the  hungry  be- 
cause in  that  step  lies  for  him  the  expression  of  spirit- 
uality, that  man  is  serving  the  world  through  the  T.  S. 
in  the  right  way.  It  may  not  be  the  function  or  duty 

22 


of  another,  but  it  is  his.  Every  one  must  be  free  to 
conceive  what  spiritual  life  means  to  him  in  terms  of 
his  own  self -effort,  to  take  the  next  step  in  front  of  him, 
and  to  help  the  world  in  terms  of  his  self-realization. 
That,  then,  is  the  first  general  fundamental. 

This  brings  us  to  the  second  principle.  People  have 
often  thought  that  spiritual  service  of  the  world  is  an 
effort  to  grapple  with  some  form  of  outer  activity 
which  is  not  related  to  their  own  individual  lives.  That 
is  a  wrong  view.  As  we  study  Theosophy  in  all  ages, 
we  find  the  teaching  that  a  man  serves  the  world  first 
by  living  his  own  spiritual  life.  As  H.  P.  B.  says,  "It 
is  an  occult  law  that  no  man  can  rise  superior  to  his 
individual  failings  without  lifting,  be  it  ever  so  little, 
the  whole  body  of  which  he  is  an  integral  part."  A 
man's  service  of  the  world,  therefore,  is  not  uncon- 
nected with,  or  unrelated  to,  his  effort  at  leading  his 
own  individual  spiritual  life.  The  two  are  one.  It  is 
not  an  effort  to  save  somebody  else's  soul,  but  a  su- 
preme effort  to  save  his  own ;  and  this  constitutes  true 
service  of  the  world.  It  is  the  recognition  of  the  sub- 
lime fact  that  in  living  the  life  of  the  day  the  service 
of  the  world  is  rendered.  Thus  we  give  fine  scope  and 
a  very,  very  wide  field  for  activity  to  our  members; 
each  one  must  serve  in  terms  of  his  own  self-expression, 
not  with  the  help  of  other  people's  programmes. 

Service  of  the  world  in  terms  of  other  peoples'  pro- 
grammes means  that  we  are  serving  the  world  as  they 
would  serve  it.  We  can  never  do  it  satisfactorily,  be- 
cause it  is  like  second-hand  knowledge  rooted  in  belief, 
and  belief  neither  brings  inner  conviction  nor  enthus- 
iasm, and  without  conviction  and  enthusiasm  true  spirit- 
ual service  of  the  world  is  not  possible.  Therefore 
comes  into  play  the  same  principle  which  we  were  ex- 

23 


amining  in  the  first  lecture,  that  each  one  must  know 
himself  to  live  his  own  spiritual  life;  it  is  also  true  that 
each  must  know  himself  to  render  spiritual  service  to 
the  world. 

When  we  begin  to  study  we  find  that  in  this  particu- 
lar race  of  ours,  people  are  working  with  particular 
constituent  principles  of  their  being,  and  are  evolving 
thereby.  In  the  human  kingdom  the  spheres  of  exper- 
ience for  different  individuals  are  different,  and  there- 
fore the  methods  of  utilizing  that  experience  in  the 
province  of  service  are  also  different  for  different  peo- 
ple. I  may  be  developing  a  particular  principle  of  my 
being;  another  person  may  be  unfolding  another  prin- 
ciple of  his  very  complex  constitution.  My  service  of 
the  world  is  through  the  particular  principle  which  I 
am  developing;  the  other  man's  business  of  serving  the 
world  is  related  to  the  principle  which  he  is  unfolding. 
Therefore,  in  adopting  the  plan  of  service  of  the  world, 
our  duty  is  to  find  out  with  which  principle  of  our  com- 
plex human  being  we  are  dealing  at  the  present  mo- 
ment in  this  life. 

H.  P.  B.  has  pointed  out  that  in  this  Fifth  Root-race 
of  ours,  the  fifth  principle  in  Man,  the  Mind,  is  de- 
veloping. Our  function  in  serving  the  world  is  there- 
fore related  to  this  Mind-principle.  This,  in  my  opinion, 
provides  a  key  which  most  of  our  members  have  not 
learnt  to  use.  People  have  often  said  that  the  T.  S.  is 
a  highly  unpractical  body,  because  it  deals  with  intel- 
lectual problems  and  not  with  the  ordinary  affairs  of 
the  practical  workaday  world.  An  effort  to  understand 
H.  P.  B/s  proposition  ought  to  be  made.  Nowadays 
our  members  seem  very  anxious  to  please  the  world ! 
Our  Lodges  and  our  Sections,  in  planning  their  active 
work,  have  a  tendency  to  consider  only  their  own  in- 

24 


dividual  points  of  view,  and  are  asking:  "What  is  the 
world  going  to  say  about  our  programme?"  Only  a 
few  people  ask  the  very  fundamental  question :  "What 
are  the  Masters  going  to  say  about  this  programme  of 
work?" 

The  Masters  who  founded  the  Society  have  a  plan  of 
helping  the  world  through  the  Society;  that  plan  is 
rooted  in  laws,  is  carried  out  by  the  knowledge  of  these 
laws.  Because  we  are  living  in  the  Fifth  Root-race, 
and  are  developing  the  Mind-principle,  the  active  ser- 
vice of  the  world  is  closely  related  to  it.  When  we 
begin  to  examine  and  ponder  over  this  aspect  of  service 
we  meet  with  a  somewhat  strange  phenomenon :  a  ma- 
jority of  our  members  view  with  suspicion  the  activity 
of  the  Mind.  They  speak  of  it  as  if  it  is  some  kind  of 
terrible  disease,  and  you  often  hear  it  said :  "Well,  such 
and  such  a  man  is  no  good,  he  is  only  an  intellectual." 
Now  our  function  is  to  spiritualize  that  Mind-principle 
which  is  functioning  and  developing  in  the  race,  and  it 
is  necessary  for  us  to  understand  what  this  Mind  race 
of  ours  is.  Because,  if  we  understand  that,  we  shall 
be  able  to  understand  the  rules,  the  laws  which  we  are 
seeking,  and  apply  them,  each  one  for  himself,  in  active 
work. 

H.  P.  B.  has  hinted  at  a  curious  division  of  this 
Mind-principle  in  man.  As  with  many  other  things, 
she  has  said,  Mind  is  sevenfold,  there  are  seven  types 
of  Mind.  She  has  tried  to  suggest  a  teaching  which  has 
not  been  brought  out  fully  in  our  studies  of  Root-  and 
sub-races.  She  has  indicated  that  this  Mind  race  of 
ours  can  be  divided  in  terms  of  Mind  development. 
The  race  evolution  must  not  be  examined  only  from  the 
ethnological  point  of  view,  but  from  the  psychological 
point  of  view.  In  this  whole  Root-race  of  ours,  dif- 

25 


ferent  groups  are  developing  different  types  of  Mind. 
Therefore  there  are  mental  sub-races,  as  there  are  eth- 
nological sub-races.  You  can  find,  for  instance,  from 
that  point  of  view,  all  the  sub-races,  from  the  first  to 
the  fifth,  in  your  own  British  Isles.  Take  your  slum 
dweller  here  in  the  city  of  London.  According  to  the 
ethnologists  he  belongs  to  the  Teutonic  sub-race,  but 
there  is  a  difference  in  the  mind  development  of  the 
slum-dweller  and  your  highly  developed  politician,  sci- 
entist, or  artist.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  psycho- 
logical division  of  the  races  your  slum-dweller  is  prob- 
ably a  Lemur ian,  or  at  most  an  Atlantean — but  certainly 
not  an  Aryan.  Take  our  own  Society  and  its  member- 
ship; we  have  these  different  sub-types  of  mind.  Add 
this  consideration — that  there  are  not  only  sub-races, 
but  also  Root-races,  all  represented  among  us.  There 
are  many  of  our  members  who  perhaps  belong,  from  the 
psychological  point  of  view,  to  the  Third  or  Fourth 
Root-race;  they  are  dealing  with  instincts,  they  are 
dealing  with  emotions,  instead  of  with  mind.  There 
are  perhaps  a  few  who,  from  that  point  of  view,  belong 
to  the  Sixth  Root-race;  they  are  dealing  with  the  de- 
velopment of  the  real  intuitions — not  those  things  that 
are  called  intuitions,  but  Buddhi. 

This  gives  us  the  clue  as  to  the  nature  of  the  service 
to  be  given  to  the  world  by  members  of  the  Theosophi- 
cal  Society.  Our  sphere  of  service  is  determined  by 
that  aspect  of  mind  which  we  are  developing.  Thus 
H.  P.  B.'s  hint  is  most  illuminating  and  highly  prac- 
tical. Our  members  exclaim:  "Tell  us  what  to  do." 
Nobody  can  tell  us.  A  person  with  real  spiritual  con- 
ception, one  who  is  an  occultist,  cannot  say  what  other 
people  should  or  should  not  do.  People  have  often  mis- 
understood the  expression — "the  order  that  comes  from 

26 


the  Masters."  The  Masters  never  give  orders  in  that 
sense.  We  have  misunderstood  this  idea  of  obedience 
in  following  a  particular  order  when  it  comes.  Occult- 
ism knows  of  no  obedience;  but  only  of  the  response 
which  wells  up  from  within  as  a  conviction.  Masters' 
orders  carry  their  own  conviction :  Their  messages  are 
self-luminous;  they  illuminate  the  minds  and  uplift  the 
moral  natures  of  those  to  whom  they  are  presentee!. 

But  let  us  revert  to  the  idea  we  were  considering ;  our 
service  must  relate  itself  to  that  type  of  the  mind  which 
we  are  unfolding.  To  put  it  more  generally,  it  is  re- 
lated to  that  principle  for  us  to  serve  the  world  ac- 
cording to  the  Masters'  way.  It  is  said  sometimes,  and 
truly  said,  that  what  the  Masters  need  is  channels 
through  which  They  can  help  the  world.  But  we  are 
not  channels  when  we  accept  other  peoples'  programmes 
and  schemes.  Then  we  become  mediums,  not  the  ordi- 
nary mediums  of  spiritualism,  but  mediums  in  a  very 
real  sense,  continuously  filling  our  heads  with  other 
people's  thoughts,  our  hearts  with  other  people's  feel- 
ings, our  activity  with  other  people's  plans.  Thus  we 
are  not  the  channels  for  the  Masters,  as  we  should  like 
to  be,  because  we  do  not  live  what  we  ourselves  are, 
but  are  trying  to  live  somebody  else's  life.  Therefore, 
in  planning  the  service  of  the  world,  it  is  well  that  that 
portion  of  our  being  which  is  in  the  process  of  un- 
foldment  should  be  made  the  channel  of  communica- 
tion between  the  world  of  human  beings  and  the  world 
of  Supermen,  of  the  Masters.  That  is  what  the  Mas- 
ters want.  That  is  what  they  have  tried  to  explain  in 
their  many  letters  and  writings.  Self-expression,  there- 
fore, is  the  fundamental  service. 

Let  us  come  to  another  idea  arising  out  of  this.    Our 
people  often  say:     "Well,  I  have  such  and  such  work 

27 


in  life;  I  am  so  busy  that  I  cannot  undertake  any  Theo- 
sophical  activity;  that  is  my  bad  karma."  Now,  this 
"Theosophical  activity"  is  one  of  the  greatest  of  illu- 
sions. What  is  Theosophical  activity  ?  Is  not  the  func- 
tion of  taking  your  morning  breakfast  a  Theosophical 
activity?  Is  not  attending  to  your  work  at  your  office 
a  Theosophical  activity  ?  How  can  you  make  a  division 
in  the  spiritual  life?  And  yet  we  do  make  a  division 
when  we  speak  of  Theosophical  activity.  We  have 
simply  removed  ourselves  from  one  sphere  of  illusion 
to  another  sphere  of  illusion.  We  have  blamed  the  or- 
thodox Christian  because  he  regards  Sunday  as  a  sacred 
day  when  he  must  go  to  church,  and  all  the  others 
as  secular  days  when  he  must  do  his  business.  We 
say  that  is  all  wrong ;  but  instead  of  dividing  our  week 
into  two  compartments,  we  divide  our  days  into  more 
than  two,  and  we  say:  "This  thing  I  am  doing  well, 
that  is  ordinary  life;  but  if  I  go  to  the  Lodge  meeting 
to  deliver  a  lecture  or  listen  to  one,  then  that  is  Theo- 
sophical activity."  Thus  we  get  away  from  the  spir- 
itual life,  from  the  true  service  of  the  world.  What 
we  need  is  the  fire  of  true  altruism,  which  is  to  live 
our  natural  life  Theosophically,  which  demands  the  ef- 
fort consciously  to  help  the  growth  of  that  particular 
principle  which  is  evolving  in  us.  That  is  the  true 
kind  of  impetus  necessary  for  spiritual  service.  I  want 
you  to  note  how  this  question  of  service  is  related  to 
our  individual  progress.  In  this  connection  let  me 
quote  The  Voice  of  the  Silence: 

"The  selfish  devotee  lives  to  no  purpose.  The  man 
who  does  not  go  through  his  appointed  work  in  life — 
has  lived  in  vain.  Follow  the  wheel  of  life ;  follow  the 
wheel  of  duty  to  race  and  kin,  to  friend  and  foe,  and 
close  thy  mind  to  pleasures  as  to  pain.  Exhaust  the 

28 


law  of  karmic  retribution.  Gain  Siddhis  for  thy  future 
birth." 

In  this  teaching  lies  the  method  of  world-service. 
We  have  to  go  through  our  appointed  work  in  life; 
we  have  to  attend  to  duties  and  obligations  to  race  and 
kin;  and  as  Theosophists  we  have  to  discharge  this  by 
the  method  indicated  in  these  words,  closing  our  minds 
to  pleasures  and  pains.  He  who  does  not  live  and  serve 
thus  is  described  as  "the  selfish  devotee."  He  who 
does  live  and  serve  thus,  he  is  gaining  Siddhis  for  his 
future  birth — an  idea  that  is  not  yet  fully  understood. 

Next,  let  us  come  to  the  form  into  which  this  service 
should  be  moulded;  there  again  we  find  confusion  of 
ideas.  If  what  I  have  been  saying  is  true,  then  our 
duty  as  active  helpers  of  our  fellow  men  is  to  put  into 
the  existing  forms,  if  such  forms  are  clean,  that  power 
of  Theosophy  which  we  are  evolving  from  within  our- 
selves. What  are  we  trying  to  do?  Exactly  the  re- 
verse of  this — we  are  trying  to  build  new  forms.  But 
ours  is  not  the  task  to  build  unnecessary  new  forms. 
We  want  to  spiritualize  all  spheres  of  the  world,  forms 
which  already  exist.  Therefore  you  do  not  want  a  new 
political  party.  You  want  the  spiritual  power  of  Theo- 
sophy to  influence  all  political  parties,  so  that  it  can 
unite  the  parties  which  are  fighting  and  struggling  one 
against  the  other.  Therefore  you  do  not  want  a  new 
school  of  art.  You  want  the  spiritual  power  to  touch 
all  emotional  activities  of  artists  of  various  schools  of 
thought,  so  that  they  can  find  a  common  ground,  a  com- 
mon basis,  for  their  emotional  expression.  You  do  not 
want  a  new  creed,  or  a  new  faith,  or  a  new  religion, 
or  a  new  church — you  have  enough  in  this  country  at 
any  rate.  You  want  the  power  of  the  spiritual  life  felt 
and  realized.  Let  each  one  take  into  his  particular  de- 

29 


nomination,  church,  creed,  or  faith  his  own  spiritual 
current.  And  why  should  that  be  so?  Because  that 
enables  the  right  fulfilment  of  living  the  spiritual  life 
according  to  the  dictates  of  the  law  of  karma.  We  speak 
of  the  law  of  karma,  but  we  do  not  recognize  the  fact 
that  the  law  of  karma  must  be  helped  to  fulfil  itself 
through  our  spiritual  life.  We  always  want  to  change 
out  karma.  But  how  can  we  change  karma?  We  can 
omly  change  karma  by  the  fulfilment  of  that  karma. 
Many  of  our  members  desire  to  get  away  from  the  en- 
vironment which  the  law  of  karma  has  created  for  them 
and  want  to  contact  a  new  one.  This,  in  a  very  real  and 
occult  sense,  leads  to  caste-confusion,  and  thus  to  pain, 
suffering  and  failure  in  activity. 

Let  us  grasp  the  principle  that  we  must  let  karma  ful- 
fil itself,  and  not  try  to  fight  and  change — save  the  fight 
that  comes  from  within,  and  the  change  which  is  of  the 
nature  of  inner  conversion.  When  we  begin  to  speak 
in  terms  of  fulfilment  of  the  law  of  karma,  we  begin 
to  look  at  the  forms  with  which  our  karma  is  related. 
Wre  ask  ourselves :  "In  what  nationality  have  I  to 
work?  What  religion,  or  what  denomination  of  re- 
ligion, has  been  decreed  for  me?"  We  should  then 
say:  "That  is  where  my  primary  duty  lies."  But  we 
try  to  run  away  from  our  duty,  and  thus  commit  a 
wrong.  Our  attitude  should  be :  "What  I  did  not  un- 
derstand before,  through  my  Theosophy  I  have  begun 
to  understand,  and  now  I  am  going  to  let  karma  fulfil 
itself."  We  must  work  out  that  idea  in  life.  The  no- 
tion that  we  are  going  to  right  the  world  by  taking 
one  or  another  course  of  activity  is  one  of  the  greatest 
of  illusions.  We  cannot  affect  the  course  of  evolution 
in  the  world  of  forms,  save  by  one  method ;  the  world 
suffers  through  the  obstacles  of  form,  and  only  one 

30 


power  removes  that  obstacle;  it  is  the  power  of  life. 
When  you  pour  fresh  life  into  obstructing  forms,  they 
crumble. 

We  must  see,  therefore,  what  our  karma  has  brought 
us  in  our  life,  and  endeavor  to  pour  into  those  forms 
with  which  we  have  contact,  the  power  of  the  spiritual 
life,  so  that  the  law  may  fulfil  itself.  Apply  this  to 
your  city,  country,  nation,  religion,  and  you  will  per- 
ceive the  truth  underlying  spiritual  service  of  the  world. 
In  helping  the  world,  therefore,  we  should  always  keep 
in  mind  the  fact  that  our  duty  is  to  spiritualize  action. 
Some  of  our  members  want  to  make  good  karma,  as 
they  put  it.  But  that  is  not  Karma- Yoga;  that  is  not 
treading  correctly  the  Path  of  Action ;  that  is  not  "skill 
in  acion  which  is  Yoga" ;  that  is  not  "To  abandon  both 
good  and  evil  deeds."  Thus  our  personal  karma  is  in- 
timately related  to  our  efforts  at  serving  the  world. 

Adopt  a  way  of  service  other  than  this,  and  you  will 
find  that,  when  you  have  finished  the  task,  the  world 
has  not  moved  much  further.  What  we  want,  there- 
fore, is  the  power  to  remove  the  causes  of  evils  which 
we  karmically  contact.  To  deal  with  evils  in  the  ordi- 
nary way  is  to  deal  with  effects,  and  that  is  not  pro- 
ductive of  lasting  good.  Therefore  discrimination  in 
action  is  necessary  for  the  service  of  the  world. 

How  can  we  perceive  the  causes  of  evil  belonging  to 
our  own  environment,  save  by  the  process  of  inner  con- 
version whereby  we  have  rooted  out  that  evil  in  our- 
selves, and  thus  spiritualize  that  environment?  Do  not 
judge  the  success  of  our  Theosophical  service  in  a  crude 
material  way.  "How  many  members  have  we  got  by 
adopting  this  particular  form  of  propaganda?"  asks  our 
zealous  activist.  That  is  a  wrong  measure.  It  is  not 
the  number  of  members,  but  the  quality  that  matters. 

31 


Proselytism  from  without  gives  you  quantity;  inner 
conversion  gives  you  quality.  Our  method  should  be 
to  live  our  life  and  let  loose  a  spiritual  power  in  living 
that  life  which  will  produce  inner  conversion  in  the 
hearts  of  men.  Not  by  words  of  eloquence  but  by 
words  made  flesh  in  life — that  ought  to  be  the  way.  We 
can  do  it  in  terms  of  that  particular  principle  of  our 
being  which  is  evolving,  because  that  is  the  line  of  least 
resistance  for  us.  We  must  react  on  our  own  en- 
vironment and  allow  our  karma  to  fulfil  itself.  It  is 
in  that  sense  that  Shri  Krshna  said  in  the  Bhagavad- 
Glta: 

"Better  is  one's  own  duty,  though  destitute  of  merit, 
than  the  well  executed  duty  of  another.  He  who  doeth 
the  duty  laid  down  by  his  own  nature  incurreth  no  sin. 

Congenital  duty,  though  defective,  ought  not  to  be 
abandoned.  All  undertakings,  indeed,  are  clouded  by 
defects  as  fire  by  smoke. 

He  whose  Buddhi  is  everywhere  unattached,  the  self- 
subdued,  dead  to  desires,  he  goeth  by  renunciation  to 
the  supreme  perfection  of  freedom  from  obligation." 

There  you  have  a  teaching  identical  with  H.  P.  B.'s : 
"Follow  the  wheel  of  life ;  follow  the  wheel  of  duty  to 
race  and  kin."  "Exhaust  the  law  of  karmic  retribu- 
tion," says  The  Voice  of  the  Silence,  and :  "Gain  Sid- 
dhis  for  thy  future  birth";  the  Gita  teaches  the  same 
lesson  of  "freedom  from  obligation."  This  is  the  way 
of  service  by  which  we  do  not  incur  sin — by  not  aban- 
doning congenital  duty.  Other  paths  take  us  away  from 
the  true  spiritual  life ;  and  we  shall  go  round  about  it ; 
but  we  shall  neither  make  progress  ourselves  nor  help 
the  world  to  advance  spiritually.  Therefore  we  should 
try  to  lead  the  life  contacting  that  very  sphere  which 
is  our  own. 

32 


There  is  a  world  in  which  we  live  as  individuals;  it 
is  no  one  else's  world ;  for  ordinary  individuals  Nature 
makes  that  world;  a  true  Theosophist  ought  to  build 
it  himself.  Create  a  sphere  by  letting  loose  some  of  the 
spiritual  power  and  force  from  within,  and  from  there 
endeavor  to  remove  the  causes  of  evil  in  the  world.  Let 
other  people  touch  that  world  of  yours,  for  that  touch 
will  lead  them  to  the  inner  conversion  which  you  your- 
self have  gone  through,  and  enable  them  to  build  their 
own  world.  That  is  your  service  to  them  and  the 
world. 

That  is  what  the  Masters  are  doing;  They  are  trying 
to  raise  the  members  of  the  T.  S.  to  Their  level  by  a 
process  of  inner  conversion,  so  that  through  us  They 
may  help  a  greater  number  of  human  souls — not  human 
bodies.  They  are  endeavoring  to  draw  human  souls 
into  Their  world ;  for  in  that  world,  beyond  the  worlds 
of  name  and  form  (nama-rupa),  all  names  and  forms 
come  into  being.  There  we  can  deal  with  causes  and 
effects.  That  is  the  World  of  Will  and  Wisdom  and 
Creation,  wherein  is  determined  the  destiny  of  the 
worlds  of  effects.  Therefore  the  true  Theosophical  Ser- 
vice consists  in  a  sincere  attempt  to  master  intellectu- 
ally the  scheme  of  evolution  to  which  we  belong,  to 
find  our  place  therein,  to  apply  the  teachings  of  the 
Ancient  Wisdom  in  reacting  on  our  own  environment, 
and  thus,  moving  from  the  world  within,  to  affect 
causes  and  thereby  nullify  the  evil  that  encompasses  this 
Sorrowful  Star. 


33 


A  SYSTEMATIC  COURSE  OF  READING 
arranged  by 

THE  THEOSOPHICAL  ASSOCIATION  OF 
NEW  YORK. 


Key  to  Theosophy 

Ocean  of  Theosophy 

Popular  Lectures  on  Theosophy 

Echoes  from  the  Orient 

The  Occult  World 

In  the  Outer  Court 

The  Science  of  the  Emotions 

A  Study  in   Consciousness 

Isis  Unveiled 

The  Secret  Doctrine 


The  Bhagavad  Gita 
The  Bhagavad  Gita 
Notes  on  the  Gita 
Doctrine  of  the  Heart 
Light  on  the  Path 
Practical  Occultism 
The  Voice  of  the  Silence 


H.  P.  Blavatsky 

Wm.  Q.  Judge 

Annie  Besant 

Wm.  Q.  Judge 

A.  P.  Sinnett 

Annie  Besant 

Bhagavan  Das 

Annie   Besant 

H.  P.  Blavatsky 

H.  P.  Blavatsky 

Annie  Besant 

Wm.  Q.  Judge 

Wm.  Q.  Judge 

Annie  Besant 

Mabel  Collins 

H.  P.  Blavatsky 

H.  P.  Blavatsky 


These  books  can  be  obtained  at  the  Headquarters 
of  The  Theosophical  Association,  9  East  41st  Street, 
New  York  City. 


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